Vitamin B6 also lowers homocysteine

[anthrax]

vitamin B6 (Pyridoxine) is especially important in regard to protein metabolism and many amino acid reactions depend on vitamin B6
Here is another good reason to take extra B6:

High homocysteine levels are a potent risk factor for heart disease. They can be lowered safely and effectively by supplementing with folic acid.
Researchers at Trinity College in Dublin have discovered that vitamin B6 (pyridoxine) can also lower homocysteine levels (by about 7.5 per cent) even in people who are fully "saturated" with folic acid.
The researchers recommend that protocols to reduce homocysteine include both folic acid and vitamin
B6.

American Journal of Clinical Nutrition, April 2001, pp. 759-64

 

[PANTS]

Cool. And what dosages?
P.

 

[SirWanksalot]

http://my.webmd.com/content/article/1671.52767


Mix B-12 and Folic Acid for Heart Health

Combination Could Reduce Heart Disease, Strokes By Jeanie Davis

WebMD Medical News

Jan. 18, 2002 -- Evidence that folic acid prevents heart disease continues to mount. And a new study shows that the recipe could be improved even more by adding a dash of vitamin B-12.

Folic acid alone reduces the level of a potentially harmful amino acid in the blood, called "homocysteine." When elevated, homocysteine has been shown to raise the risk of heart disease and stroke. In fact, some heart experts consider homocysteine to be a very important risk factor.

But adding vitamin B-12 to the mix "is likely to be much more effective in lowering homocysteine concentrations," study author Joe McPartlin, a vitamin researcher at St. James Hospital in Dublin, Ireland, says in a news release. His study is featured in the Jan. 19 issue of The Lancet.

McPartlin's study involved 30 men and 23 women who took folic acid supplements for 26 weeks. Men took increasing doses, from 100 to 400 micrograms; women took 500 micrograms.

Homocysteine levels fell significantly while they were taking the folic acid. However, the researchers found that once folate levels were increased, vitamin B-12 levels were essential to keeping homocysteine at low levels.

The FDA currently requires the addition of folic acid to enriched breads, cereals, flours, corn meals, pastas, rice, and other grain products. In addition, green leafy vegetables, citrus fruits and juices, whole-wheat bread, and dry beans are good sources of folic acid.

But the researchers are suggesting that in order to best combat heart disease and stroke with diet, vitamin B-12 must be added to the mix. They support that food also be fortified with vitamin B-12 -- as well as folic acid -- in order to optimize our fight against the No. 1 killer in the U.S.